CHEMISTRY 400 Senior Seminar in Chemistry Spring 2013 Instructor: Prof. C. J. Nichols PHSC 308 898-5541 cjnichols@csuchico.edu http://www.csuchico.edu/~cjnichols Office Hours: W 9-10:30; Th 10-12; F 9-10:30 Reference Manual: Large handout from the s Competent Communicator Manual (sold through SAACS at first class). Please bring it to each class. Course Objectives Each student will improve their ability to make professional and presentations, both technical and non-technical. Each student will improve their ability to think and speak on their feet through participating in Table Topics. Each student will gain expertise in critically evaluating the performance of both student presentations and other seminars. Each student will gain expertise as a leader by performing in different leadership capacities during the classes. Course Activities 1. Speeches Each student will present THREE short during the semester. More information about the nature of the can be found in the Manual. General topics for each speech will be discussed in advance. The must be done in the order shown here, and will include: o Project 1 (Ice Breaker) o Project 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 9 o Project 8 (Get Comfortable with Visual Aids) The 3-speech assignment assumes that the class enrollment remains around 24 students. If enrollment goes much higher, then each student may have to give fewer due to time constraints. Since this is a chemistry class, the 2 nd and 3 rd (all but the Ice Breaker) must have a chemistry or biochemistry related theme. Please submit the title of your speech (and note which project number it is) to Dr. Nichols no less than 2 days in advance of your speech. Failing to do so will cost points on your speech s score. 1
2. Attendance at Friday Seminars Each student is REQUIRED to attend all of the seminars by visiting speakers (see attached schedule) on Fridays at 1:00 pm. More seminars may be added in the next few weeks. Each student will submit a brief (250 400 words) evaluation on the performance of FOUR of the speakers. While a small synopsis of the speaker s content can be included, the primary focus of the evaluations should be an analysis of his or her presentation style based on what we are learning from the s manual. Feel free to be critical if the speech warrants it. Evaluations will be due 2 weeks after the seminar takes place. Late evaluations will be accepted up to another 2 weeks for no more than half credit. 3. Attendance in class Each student is REQUIRED to attend all of the class meetings: every Friday at 2:00pm as well as Fridays at 1:00pm (two back-to-back classes in different rooms with a short break in the middle) when there is no visiting speaker. You will be asked to participate in nearly every meeting in one or more roles, and we cannot run a successful class without everyone in attendance. If you know ahead of time that you will be absent please let Dr. Nichols know ASAP. Missing 3 or more class meetings (excused or unexcused) will result in you earning an F in the class. Special Note: if you are scheduled to give a speech one day and you miss that class, even with an excused absence, you will still be required to give the speech at a later date and will receive a substantial point penalty. With sufficient notice, days for giving can be switched, but not at the last minute. 2
Evaluation Ice Breaker 50 2 nd Speech 75 Final Project 8 Speech (with PowerPoint) 100 Mini- (in Table Topics and as Evaluator) 75 Attendance in Class & Participation in assigned roles 30 Attendance at Friday Seminars 30 Evaluations of Visiting Speakers (4 @ 10 points each) 40 TOTAL 400 Speech scores will be calculated as follows: Numerical Evaluation by Dr. Nichols 20 pts Average of numerical evaluation by other students 20 pts Time within acceptable parameters 4 pts Ah-Count & Grammar acceptable 4 pts Title submitted on time 2 pts TOTAL 50 pts (these scores are multiplied by 1.5 for speech 2 and doubled for the final one) Grading 85-100% A 60-64% C+ 80-84% A- 55-59% C 75-79% B+ 50-54% C- 70-74% B 40-49% D 65-69% B- 0-39% F How to earn Extra Credit Attend a meeting of our local Chico s Club. Meetings are held every Thursday from 7:00-8:00 pm at the Enloe Hospital Rehab Center on 340 W. East Avenue (near the SaveMart mall). Seeing one or two of these meetings in action will really give you a good idea of how s meetings work. Extra credit (5 points per meeting) will be given for up to a maximum of two meetings attended. Note: Please don t all go on the same day! They have limited space. Bring a guest to our CHEM 400 class. This will help us practice speaking in front of larger audiences, and give us a bigger pool of people for whom we can ask for a Table Topics speech. Guests can be other students, faculty, family, or friends, as long as they are over 16 years old. Make sure the guests are willing to participate. For each class in which you bring one or more guests, you earn 2 extra credit points, up to a maximum of 10 points for the semester. Note that you can t earn credit for bringing the same guest more than once during the semester. 3
The s Experience The mission of s International is to help men and women learn the arts of speaking, listening and thinking vital skills that promote self-actualization, enhance leadership potential, foster human understanding, and contribute to the betterment of mankind. s clubs exist all around the world, giving people the opportunity to practice their skills as speakers, evaluators, and leaders. This semester we will conduct each meeting of CHEM 400 in the same style as a s club meeting. The s Competent Communicator Manual will serve as our reference source. It contains a program of designed to help build your public speaking abilities and confidence, as well as the basic outline of a s meeting. Please read the section about the meeting format and roles on pages 63-69 before class on Friday, Feb 1. A general agenda for each class period is attached. Each day you will be asked to take on a specific role or roles during our meeting times. Below is a brief summary of the responsibilities each role entails: TOASTMASTER The can be considered the chair of the meeting, or the M.C. of the day s activities. He/she welcomes everyone to the class and asks each person to introduce themselves. He/she is responsible for briefly introducing each speaker. The introduction should include announcing which speech is being done (e.g. Project 4, How to Say It ), the duration of the speech (e.g. 5-7 minutes), and the title of the speech. After each speaker is finished the thanks them and moves on to the next order of business. He/she also introduces the Table Topicsmaster and General Evaluator, who then run their sections of the meeting. Depending on need, the may also be assigned as one of the evaluators for one of the. SPEAKERS Preparing for a speech can be a lot of work, so speakers will not be assigned other roles during the meeting, and will usually not be called on to give Table Topics. Each speaker must provide a title for his/her talk to Dr. Nichols at least 2 days in advance. Dr. Nichols is responsible for forwarding this information to the day s in advance of the class. Failure to do so will result in points being deducted from that speech s score. When you arrive in class that day, give your manual to your evaluator so that he/she can fill out your evaluation form for the appropriate speech. At the beginning of each speech, the speaker should thank the for his/her introduction and acknowledge those in attendance. E.g. Thank you, Mr.. Fellow students and welcome guests, 4
TABLE TOPICSMASTER Table Topics are brief impromptu given as a response to questions asked by the Table Topicsmaster each day. The Topicsmaster will choose a theme for the day, and have prepared 4-5 questions or topics to ask members of the group to discuss. Before starting each day, please explain the format: that the should be between 1 minute and 2 minutes long, and what the basic theme is. For each topic, feel free to select anyone except for those who have already delivered. Don t choose anyone twice in the same day please! Hand in your list of questions, along with the speakers who you chose for each one, to Dr. Nichols at the end of the class. The Table Topicsmaster may also have to serve as an evaluator. At the end of the Table Topics presentations, all those present will vote for their favorite. The winner will be announced later in the meeting. EVALUATORS When you arrive at the class, collect the manual from the speaker to which you have been assigned. Each project has an Evaluation Guide attached to it. Fill that in as the speech progresses and/or after the speaker has finished. Be sure your name is on it, so you get credit for being the evaluator. Each prepared speech will get a verbal evaluation. These should last from 1½ to 2½ minutes. Please don t simply read your notes: it should be a mini speech. See pages 64-65 for more information on verbal evaluations. Dr. Nichols will need a copy of the Evaluation Guide for your speaker, both as part of the score given to the speech and to give you credit for doing an evaluation. After class please photocopy the page, give the copy to Dr. Nichols and let the speaker keep the original. If there is anything you want to tell the speaker about his/her presentation that you don t want Dr. Nichols to read, please feel free to communicate with him or her after class. GENERAL EVALUATOR The General Evaluator coordinates the evaluation part of the meeting. He/she will call upon the individual evaluators to deliver their verbal evaluations. He/she will then ask the timer for a report, and the ah-counter/grammarian for a report. He/she may then deliver a brief review of the meeting in general, including a review of the s performance, a comment on the Table Topics session, or anything else about the meeting. The General Evaluator may also have to serve as an individual evaluator. For the first few weeks of the class, Dr. Nichols will serve as the General Evaluator. 5
TIMER The job of the Timer is to record the time of each speech to make sure the participant stays within the allowed guidelines. The Timer will be provided with a stopwatch and colored cards. Dr. Nichols will also provide the Timer with a blank report to be filled in that day. The Timer will have a system of cards (green-yellow-red) to indicate to the speaker: o when he/she has reached the minimum time allowed (green) o the middle of the range allowed (yellow), and o the maximum time allowed (red). The guidelines are shown here: Ice Breaker Projects 2-9 Table Topic Evaluation (4-6 minutes) (5-7 minutes) (1-2 minutes) (1½-2½ mins) Green: 4:00 Yellow: 5:00 Red: 6:00 Green: 5:00 Yellow: 6:00 Red: 7:00 Green: 1:00 Yellow: 1:30 Red: 2:00 Green: 1:30 Yellow: 2:00 Red: 2:30 When called upon by the General Evaluator, the Timer will report the times of each speaker. The Timer will record the time of each speech, table topic, and evaluation (with the names of the participants), and submit that report to Dr. Nichols at the end of the class. Since timing requires focus, he/she will not also be asked to be an evaluator. AH-COUNTER/GRAMMARIAN This is really two jobs in one. The job of the Ah-Counter is to record any filler words or sounds made by each speaker, sounds like ah, um, er, like, you know, so, and so on. He/she will also note any unnecessary repetition, such as if a speaker says This this this is what I m talking about The job of the Grammarian is to note the improper use of English (in his/her opinion) by any of the speakers. If any particularly creative use of language was used by a speaker, that should be noted as well. When called upon by the General Evaluator, the Ah-Counter/Grammarian will report on any significant use of filler words by the speakers as well as note any improper or exceptionally creative use of language that day. Please turn in your Ah-Counter s report to Dr. Nichols at the end of class. The Ah-Counter/Grammarian may also be asked to serve as an individual evaluator. 6
Basic Agenda for each class meeting 1:00 Dr. Nichols Calls meeting to order, and introduces for the day. (Everyone s duties are written on the board ahead of time) 1:01 Welcomes everyone Invites all attendees to introduce themselves Introduces 1 st speaker 1:05 Speaker #1 Delivers speech Speaker #2 Speaker #3 Speaker #4 Introduces 2 nd speaker Delivers speech Introduces 3 rd speaker Delivers speech Introduces 4 th speaker (if appropriate) Delivers speech Introduces Table Topicsmaster 1:25- Table Topicsmaster Introduces Table Topics theme for day and explains format 1:30 Conducts Table Topics (max 4 topics, each speech 1:00-2:00) Introduces General Evaluator 1:35 Gen. Evaluator Calls for reports from speech evaluators one at a time Speech evaluator Delivers evaluation (1:30 2:30) (x3-4) Timer Grammarian/ Ah-Counter Table Topicsmaster Gen. Evaluator Delivers report Delivers report Announces Table Topics winner Delivers General report (time permitting) 1:48 Thanks General Evaluator and asks for questions Returns control to Dr. Nichols 1:49 Dr. Nichols Adjourn 7
CHEMISTRY 400 CALENDAR Spring 2013 Friday 1:00 1:50 pm in AYRS 120 2:00 2:50 pm in PHSC 209 February 1 Introductions the Experience Cancelled February 8 s Class: 4 Ice Breakers s Class: 4 Ice Breakers February 15 February 22 Seminar: Mike Cleary, Gallo Winery Seminar: Dean Tantillo, U.C. Davis s Class: 4 Ice Breakers s Class: 4 Ice Breakers March 1 s Class: 4 Ice Breakers s Class: 4 Ice Breakers March 8 March 15 March 22 SPRING BREAK March 29 April 5 April 12 April 19 April 26 May 3 May 10 Seminar: Sam Clegg, Mars Rover Seminar: Shelley Minteer, University of Utah May 17 More if necessary More if necessary High School Chemistry day may be scheduled for April 12 or April 19. Whichever day it s on, CHEM 400 is cancelled. There may be 2-3 additional seminars announced later. If so, that will shift our speechmaking days later. 8